say hi to_ Domaine de Boisbuchet

There is one spot in France which is famous for their all-star lineups of, the best of the best, who's who of the design world - giving workshops and that spot is Domaine de Boisbuchet. As with Villa Noailles, living in Paris I get to see friends and colleagues head down to Boisbouchet each summer for amazing creative workshops and a vacation with other design professionals in a real French Château.

They host a series of small hands-on workshops throughout each summer with some of the hottest contemporary designers. You'll get to have one on one time learning from today's most innovative and sought after talents.

Summers past, I flicked through instagram posts seeing everyone learning new techniques and methods from of my favourite designers and everyone having family style meals together out on the castle's sprawling property... Ugh I missed out on all the fun AGAIN. This year the lineup was released and as you can guess from how much we post Sabine Marcelis' work, when I spotted her on the line-up I thought - 'Lonely August in my super hot parisian apartment no more! Lemmie go learn first hand from my girl Sabine'.

So after seeing everyones photos from Boisbuchet on social media of the workshops they had been taking last year, I decided to do a little bit of research. What exactly IS Boisbuchet and how did it get started? I’m also a history nerd so I would love to hear more about this elusive design chateau and how it became this centre for creative exploration.

With a little bit of google magic, I learned that Alexander von Vegesack, design expert from Germany, bought the 150 acres of Domaine de Boisbuchet in the 80’s. He bought it with a dream and idea in mind to create a place where design meets education and collaboration. Since then he has coordinated creative workshops and courses with a small team and has welcomed industry professionals and students to collaborate, network and create new relationships with like minded people. People travel from all corners of the globe each summer to Boisbuchet. Why? Remember I mentioned their allstar lineup of teachers. Well, to learn from some of the hottest, most innovative and relevant contemporary design experts.

So this pretty much ticks every box of what I was looking for in terms of extending Milan’s design and creative meeting place, traveling to a picturesque European location (castle!!!) and using my time productively to learn something new along the way.

My Picks

Boisbouchet offers 35+ classes this summer but I handpicked the ones that I think you guys would love the most/ the ones I would love the most (in chronological order).

The Workshop I chose: 'Exploring Light' with Sabine Marcelis

It was a hard choice as all of the workshops looked so good (experimenting with materials with Lex Pott aghhh so cool) but in the end of course I would love the opportunity to learn a bit more from one of my favourite contemporary designers, Sabine Marcelis.

The workshop, 'Exploring Light', will have us focusing on the exploration of light in the broadest sense. As I was told “Experimenting with the manipulation of light in scales that vary between object and spatial setting “. Not sure what I am in for but I know if it is like anything else Sabine has done and or what I have seen from Boisbuchet in summers past - I’m in for something real good. I’m also looking forward to classes outdoors and to take in a bit of the nature that Boisbuchet has to offer (yesss gettin’ out of the city!)

Accommodations and Facilities

Look no further, the workshops include accommodation on the castle’s grounds and all meals. The only thing that you will have to bring along (other than a good pair of sneakers and a bathing suit with all of that surrounding park to explore with a lake for swimming) would be a towel!

Domaine de Boisbuchet16500 LessacFrance

+33 (0) 5 45 30 65 57

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